7 Essential steps to blogging with purpose

What is the purpose of blogging?

Blogging has changed so much over the years. As I mentioned in my previous post, blogging back in the day was just like writing in an online diary. People blog for the purpose of sharing stories and connecting with friends. And while blogging is still essentially about sharing and connecting, it has also become an essential tool for companies and professionals to achieve business goals and career growth.

And now more than ever, creatives turn to blogging as a way to make a living with their passions, whether they do it part-time or full-time.

What is the purpose of a personal blog?

There are company blogs and multi-author blogs, but a personal blog, obviously just by what it’s called, is written by a single author. A personal blog is typically about the blogger’s personal experiences, interests, thoughts, or profession, ideally with an overarching theme or niche.

Personal blogs are basically the closest thing we have to the original style of blogging, where bloggers publish content based on their life and passions, for the purpose of honing their skills, showcasing their written work, and expressing themselves creatively.

What does it mean to “blog with purpose”?

What does it look like to blog with purpose and to go back to blogging basics at a time when blogging has become so huge and overwhelming? Let’s discuss.

When we talk about “blogging with purpose”, it means,

Intentionally creating and distributing blog content that serves, inspires, and adds value to your readers’ lives, while allowing yourself to pursue your personal, artistic, missional, or business-related purposes.

It means creating content for the purpose of satisfying a need, answering questions, and inspiring people to make an action. But let me put an emphasis on creating content that serves your own purpose first and foremost.

I mean, I know what you’re told. I know you read somewhere that in order to have a successful blog, you have to focus on serving your readers’ needs first. And sure, that works too, but is it sustainable for single-authored creative blogs like ours?

The thing is, if the kind of content you’re creating does not fulfill your needs and your goals first (meaning, it doesn’t serve YOU first), your blog can only go so far. Let me explain further.

Let’s say you decide to launch a blog about dogs. Cue the adorable dog photos, because look at them—

It’s a very specific niche, with a highly targeted market, and a lot of opportunities for profit. And aren’t dogs the cutest? I’d literally spend an entire day scrolling through photos of dogs on Twitter if I didn’t have anything else to do!

Strategy-wise, there’s much you can do with (and potentially earn from) a blog about dogs.

But no matter how precious these dogs are, you eventually have to ask yourself: do I really want to spend the next couple of years of my life creating content about dogs?

Trust me when I say, unless you’ve dedicated your life to a certain dog or dogs, or you’re a Vet, or you literally own a dog business, you’ll likely run out of things to talk about this topic and the passion to keep going.

And this is why I believe that,

Our blogs have to serve our purpose first before they can efficiently serve others.

Blogging with purpose has a lot to do with writing content about what you’re passionate about, and aligning your blog goals with your life goals; this way, you can naturally create content that serves, not just your readers but, more importantly, yourself.

But here’s the caveat. The more you create content based on what serves you first, there’s also the chance for you to lose some of your readers. And that’s okay. Because I learned through the years that at the end of the day, you’d rather risk losing some of your readers if it means gaining more of yourself.

Blogging requires hard work and time—hours and hours that you could be spending for yourself or for your family. You’d want to make sure that the investment you put into your blog is being spent on something that matters and something that lasts.

I also guarantee that you will feel overwhelmed at one point or another.

When challenges arise, when roadblocks happen, when doubts creep in, you want to remember why you started blogging in the first place.

So ask yourself these questions:

• Why do you blog?
• Who do you blog for?
• How can you make your readers’ lives a little better?

My desire is that this e-course will help you process whatever blogging challenges you’re facing right now (if you’ve been blogging for a while), guide you through unraveling your purpose, and take you to a whole new level of purposeful, passionate, and profitable blogging.

I also created this material for fellow creative bloggers who are feeling overwhelmed to the point of quitting, wanting to put the joy back to blogging, and in need of a fresh look at their blogging process.

If you’re new to blogging or you’re in the earlier stages of launching a blog, you’ll pick up a lot of things from this e-course too. In fact, this is something I wish I had when I was just starting.

I hope it inspires you and points you to all the right places as you embark on your own blogging adventure!

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Blogging with a purpose, lesson 2

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